Bud Light de­buts big­ger nutri­tion la­bels

Start­ing next month, pack­ages of Bud Light will have prom­i­nent la­bels show­ing the beer’s calo­ries and in­gre­di­ents as well as the amount of fat, car­bo­hy­drates and pro­tein in a serv­ing.

Bud Light is likely the first of many to make the move. The la­bels aren’t legally re­quired, but ma­jor beer mak­ers agreed in 2016 to vol­un­tar­ily dis­close nutri­tion facts on their prod­ucts by 2020.

Many brands, in­clud­ing Corona Light, Guin­ness, Heineken and Coors Light, al­ready have calo­ries and other nutri­tion in­for­ma­tion on their bot­tles or pack­ag­ing. But it’s in small type, or hid­den on the bot­tom of the six-pack, and in­gre­di­ents aren’t listed.

Bud Light went with a big, black-and-white la­bel, sim­i­lar to the ones re­quired by the U.S. Food and Drug Ad­min­is­tra­tion on pack­aged foods. At the top, Bud Light lists its four in­gre­di­ents: wa­ter, bar­ley, rice and hops. Be­low that, it shows the calo­ries in a 12-ounce bot­tle or can (110) and other facts. Bud Light con­tains 2 per­cent of the rec­om­mended daily amount of car­bo­hy­drates, for ex­am­ple.

“We want to be trans­par­ent and give peo­ple the thing they are used to see­ing,” said Andy Goeler, vice pres­i­dent of mar­ket­ing for Bud Light.

In­di­vid­ual bot­tles and cans of Bud Light won’t have the full la­bels, but they’ll con­tinue to have some nutri­tion in­for­ma­tion printed in small type.